Our quick look around the NBA, or what you missed while realizing you need to read more good literature
Chris Paul, Los Angeles Clippers. Just a reminder he is the best point guard in the game. Bar none. Most of the time he shows that as the ultimate floor general — he sets up the mismatches, controls the tempo and gets his guys the ball where they need it. He’s the conductor, the maestro. But on Monday night the mismatches favored Paul when Oklahoma City switched their big men on to him off the pick and roll, then had them play a step off to prevent drives. So he rained threes down over them (5 of his 8 made threes came over Thunder bigs). He set the tone with 17 first quarter points (the Clippers had 39), the Clippers led by 14 after one and the Thunder never got closer. CP3 isn’t going to shoot like that in Game 2, but he can pick apart the Thunder in other ways and OKC fans should be concerned.
Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards. His game is just so mature for someone his age and it showed for the Wizards in their Game 1 win — 25 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 steals and he had a fantastic defensive game. Beal had 14 of those points in the fourth quarter to shut down any Pacers hope of a comeback. He wasn’t alone in this one — John Wall (13 points, 9 assists), Trevor Ariza 22 points, Marcin Gortat (13 points, 15 rebounds) all played well, among others — but it was Beal hitting the big shots late.
First Round of the Playoffs. After two blowouts on one night to open the second round, it makes you appreciate just how incredible the first round was. All those close games. All those even series (which we may still have here). I’m going to miss it. Basketball gods, we all need some thrillers again soon, you can’t just expect us to quit cold turkey.